A swaggering cowboy with a pink purse—Cody James Dollen wasn’t afraid to be different, and that included carrying his mom’s pink purse around Five Lakes Centre. His smile and outgoing nature, along with his belt buckle and cowboy hat, were some of the things you noticed as Cody walked in a room.

Cody was always trying to fix things—from helping out in the pit at the dirt track in Fairmont to trying to make someone’s day better. As he once told his sister Alisa, “Come here, Alisa; I’ll give you a hug. My hugs always make things better.”

Almost from birth, Cody was going to be a truck driver, just like his dad Jimmy. However, in the last few years, he had talked a little about becoming a bull rider, and had even found a school that provided the training—the ad for the school was tucked into the battery compartment of his cell phone, partly so he wouldn’t lose it and partly so mom Nikki wouldn’t find it.

Since about his sixteenth birthday last December, Cody had also started thinking about going into culinary arts. He would make some unique concoctions, knowing full well he’d have to at least taste it. In talking about one particular dish, Cody said, “I added some garlic, and it just exploded!”

Cody loved being outdoors: fishing, camping, blowing up ants with his dad. He could also take any teasing, unless it was about his cowboy hat.

Cody loved God, his family, and his friends. Sister Alisa will miss Cody’s hugs; brother Matthew will miss Cody’s teasing. Mom Nikki is going to miss Cody fixing her broken stuff and his hugs. Dad Jimmy is going to miss Cody, period.

Cody was born December 26, 1993. He died in St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minn., on Tuesday, May 25, after a car accident. He was a sophomore at Truman High School, Minn.

He is survived by: parents Jimmy and Nikki, sister Alisa, brother Matthew; girlfriend Ariel Kennedy; grandparents Chuck and Carol Walters, James and Maralee Dollen, Melvin Eckmann, and Janette Werner, and great-grandfather LeRoy Olson; and many loving uncles, aunts, cousins and “niece” Hadassah, special friend Tyler Firchau, and many special family friends.

Preceded in death by grandparents George and Violet Weber, Robert and Ruth Dollen, Zelpha Olson, Elbert and Melinda Eckmann; aunt Melinda Walters; and best friend Shane Terry.

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